Founders Backwoods Bastard | Founders Brewing Company

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Appearance: Slight haze. Very dark ruby/reddish brown, with a thick head and thick lacing.

Aroma: Many smells common to a bourbon barrel aged beer including vanilla, caramel, oak, bourbon, and molasses. Very pleasant, interesting, and engaging aroma.

Taste & Mouthfeel: Very smooth, thick mouthfeel! Immediately noticeable flavors of sweet bourbon and buttery caramel on the tongue, with the buttery flavor existing as much as a smooth, full texture as it does as a flavor. The finish sees the profile move towards dark chocolate and charred oak flavors, with the dark, roasted malt flavor being balanced out by a marshmallow sweetness. At 10.2% ABV, there isn’t any strong alcohol flavor or burn to speak of at all, which makes this a surprisingly drinkable beer given its strength, fullness, and complexity.

Final Word: Highly recommended! Everything about this beer is complex and engaging, while being simultaneously approachable and easy to drink. There are many flavors and aromas to enjoy, so practically any beer drinker will find something to their liking. Other beers contain these same flavors, but this beer presents them fully, completely, and in such good balance that it is worth seeking out above other barrel aged beers.

A: chestnut brown with a bare bones off white run if retention. All the excitement is saved for the smell & taste.
S: Reminiscent of all things traditionally masculine. Bold with dried fruits, cherries, plums, and plums soaked in brandy. Heavy wet oaks, fresh cigar boxes, tanned leather and a dankness of wet wool. Cue Earnest Hemingway.
T: the wet oaks come to the forefront and are complimented with dark dried fruits, leather finished with vanilla and a note of brandy.
M: Low carbonation and a thin ale, while still satisfying in the feel, without sticking too heavy on the palette.
O: An excellent example of using barrel aging to develop complexity and create an ale that stands up well as an aperitif. The fruits, leather, vanilla, wood and dankness all suggest to me a mix of old world pleasures.